1993 Newspaper Article Describes the Shadowrun RPG

Here’s a strange one from the past. Fasa’s Shadowrun roleplaying game (Amazon.com search*) makes a mainstream appearance in this article from June 24, 1993. This newspaper article, written by then-ninth grader Michael O’Kelly, introduces the world to the fantasy cyberpunk world of Shadowrun . . . complete with a mention of character death. That was a bit of a surprise, and O’Kelly handled it nicely and in a way that makes it clear that he’s talking about death “in game” and not the real world.

“While an extremely violent game in idea, it’s actually not that bad. If a person dies in the game, nothing worse happens than his character sheet gets ripped up.”

I think the word “character” would have been a better choice than “person,” but overall I’m impressed that this article appeared in a Pennsylvania newspaper.

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